Carter provides finishing touch for Kings in overtime
Jeff Carter jumped off the bench, skated into open ice in front of the net and then buried a one-timer to give the Kings a 3-2 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
Anze Kopitar kicked the puck ahead to Jake Muzzin, Muzzin delivered a cross-ice pass to Carter and he netted his team-leading 23rd goal 1 minute and 36 seconds into the extra period.
The Jets were without rookie forward Patrik Laine, who has a team-high 21 goals but is on injured reserve with a concussion. The Kings were without the offensive juice that led to four or more goals in their three prior contests. That led the teams into overtime, where Carter sent Staples Center into a frenzy.
For the second straight game, the Kings welcomed a team searching for stability in net. Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was pulled from his second consecutive start in a 4-3 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Friday night. That led Coach Paul Maurice to start Michael Hutchinson and his 4-9-2 record, 3.19 goals-against average and 89.3 save percentage in 18 appearances.
The start of the game mirrored those statistics, as it took only 3:19 for the Kings to get the puck past Hutchinson. Kopitar found space along the boards and found a waiting Gaborik with a cross-ice pass. Gaborik, who had scored only twice in 20 appearances heading into Saturday, onetimed the pass into the net before celebrating with a swinging fist pump.
But that was the Kings’ only goal on 15 first-period shots. They also hit the post three times — Muzzin nearly buried another left-wing slap shot, Nic Dowd rocketed one off the crossbar and Drew Doughty hit the outside of the right post soon after — but none of those attempts dented the scoreboard.
The Jets did that toward the end of an uneventful second, when Dustin Brown went to the penalty box for hooking and Drew Stafford beat Peter Budaj on a wrist shot 15:06 into the period.
Kings Coach Darryl Sutter called special teams the difference in the Kings’ 5-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, but that was not the case Saturday as the Kings squandered four power-play opportunities while giving up two powerplay goals.
Carter was gifted a oneon-one chance during a Jets’ power play at the start of the third period. An errant pass sprung him on a breakaway, but Carter’s backhanded shot tipped Hutchinson’s pads and trickled wide.
The Kings soon killed the power play to keep the score tied and momentum in the balance, then were again short-handed when Kevin Gravel was called for highsticking. This time the Kings did not escape unscathed. A Dustin Byfuglien wrist shot kicked off Kopitar’s skate and past Budaj to give the Jets the lead at 12:22 of the third. But the Kings came up with an answer seven minutes later when Brown smacked in a goal from the right side of the crease.
Kyle Clifford then stood in the same spot with a chance to win the game, but his shot hit both posts and no net. Clifford watched the play unfold on the big screen from the bench moments later and shook his head in disappointment.
He would not leave the arena doing the same. Neither would his teammates or the Kings fans. They all had Carter to thank.